butler



:ma Model.)

W. A; BUTLER.

3 Sheets--Sheet V1.

GONDUIT SYSTEM POR ELECTRIC RAILWAYS.

Patented 0ot 9 1 894.

INVENTOR 4. @w @@@Mw W6 ATTORNEYS.

(No Mdel.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

W. A. BUTLER.

GONDUIT SYSTEM POR ELECTRIC RAILWAYS.

NUL 527,265. Y Patentqd Oct. 9,1894.

ATTORNEYSY 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

' (No'moael.)

` W A BUTLER GONDUIT SYSTEM POB. ELEGTRIG RAILWAYS. 102,527,265

Patented Oct. 9, 1894.

A `plum ,IEW@A l l mvENToH ATTOR N EYE.

` l WILLIAM A. BUTLER, or

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

New YORK, N. Y., AssIcNoR To JOHN GILMORE BOYD, oF sAMEPLAoE.

coNnuiT sYsTI-:Mil-on ELECTRIC RAILWAYS.'

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 527,265, dated October 9, 14894.

Application nea Aprn zo, 1894.

To aZl whom it mag/concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM A. BUTLER, a

citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at New York, in the county and State of New York,

have invented certainnew and useful Im- `provernents in Electric Railways, of which To this end I arrange the electrical contacts Within an insulating box of a peculiar construction, the principal feature of which is, that the contact devices which establish connection with `the main circuit are inclosed within an inner box which is surrounded by a larger box, the space between the two boxes being filled with insulating material. The outer shell or box has a slight rocking Ino-` tion around the inner shell by which the internal contact device of the inner shell is operated, and through the medium of suitable conductors extending to the outside of the outer shell, a circuit is established through `the brush or shoe carried by the traversing car.

. The details of construction and features of novelty are hereinafter more'fully set forth.

` As will be obvious after understandingmy organization, the contact vboxes may be located in the conduit in such a way that the under face of the shoe or brush carried by the car will form contact with the conducting part of the outer shell, and cause the required movement thereof, or the boxes may be arranged within the conduit in any of the Ways or according to any of the systems well known in the art and to which they are applicable.

My invention alsocontemplates that the brush or contact device carried by the car shall be a trolley of one or more wheels, and that the moving parts ofadjacent boxes may be connected pivotally to an elongated trol-` ley barupon which the wheels may run, and

sans No. 568,322. (no man.)

supports for the rails, or girders upon which 6 5` the rails are mounted. I have shown the con` tact boxes arranged immediately beneath the:

slot in the conduit. They might obviously, however, be placed at one side as is common` in many systems of conduit construction.

The accompanying drawings show myinvention in a practical and elicient form now` best known to me,but obviously the details of construction Kor organization may be modified by those skilledin the' art.

Figure `l is a longitudinal vertical section through one of my improved contact boxes;` Fig. 2, a transverse section therethrough; Fig. 3, a detail view showing a modification; Fig. 4, a transverse section through aconduit y 8o on the line 4, 4, of Fig. 5; Fig. 5, a longitudi nal section on the line 5, 5, of Fig. 4; Fig; 6,n a longitudinal section on the line 6, 6, of Fig. 4; Fig. 7,a longitudinalsectionof a conduit showing the organization in which trolley `85 bars or tracks are employed and upon which a trolley carried along by the car runs; and Fig. 8 is a plan view of the same organiza` tion, the walls of the conduit as well as the hanger from the car being shown in section.` 9o

` Figs. l and 2show one form in which my` improved principle of construction `of the contact boxes may be embodied. `Each box is composed of an inner shell A, and an outer shell B both preferably cylindrical. They 95 may be made of iron orother suitable mate-` rial and preferably both the interior and exterior faces of all the parts` of both shells should be coated with insulating material, such for instance as vitreous enamel or japan. Ioo The inner shell is tobe stationary and the outer one is to have a slight rocking or oscil- Y. duit and issnpported inthe Coupling boxesY as follows: A box supporting bracket or frame D adapted to be secured in the conduit and upon the wall thereof, as for instance by one or more bolts d, d representing the wall of the conduit, is formed withan arin D, the upper end of which is formed like one half of a divided coupling box such as used for making electrical connections, and a tube D2 extends from the recess thereof. VThe inner shell A is formed in two parts. One part is a `circular 'cup a from which a tubea. extends. vThis tube lies in the tube D2 of the bracket and the annular space between the two tubes is filled with insulation a2 which may be of hard rubber o r other suitable material. All the parts should be tightly iitted together. The other part of the inner shell is the cover ai which is bolted to ct, as shown, and is preferably formed with a hollow hub or projection A cup a5 of insulating material tits tightly in the hollow hub and a cylinder d6 of insulating material fits tightly in the tube a. A conducting rod E extends through the sleeve of insulating material a, and into the ,cup of insulating material a5, and its projecting end e is to be secured tothe main conductor F, which extends along the conat vthe endsof the arms D of the brac'ketsD. This joint may be formed as follows: The lead armor and rinsulation of the main conductor is cut away as seen for instance in Fig. 5, ,and the end e .of the rod E is secured toit. This may be done by bending the end e around the conductor and soldering it if desired. The' `other half or cover G of the coupling box is then placed in position and secured .by bol-ts g to the half of the coupling formed 011 the end -of the arm TD. ,Y Through an opening in the cover G, closed by a screw plug G', insulating material may be introduced in a liquid form .t0 completely fill the interiorspace of the coupling, such insulating materialbeing marked g. VThe `black circle g2 surrounding the conductor .F indicates the insulation thereof.

` As seen in Fig. 2, the cylindrical shell o r cup a is a slotted longitudinally, and the opposite walls of the slot I-I `are concave, being curved on the arc of `a circle to form a bearing for acylindrical plug H, which 4may 'be inserted endwise before the cover ,a3 is placed in position. Tight joints are formed, and consequently the inner shell A ris practically hermetically closed. The .cylindrical plug H is bored transversely to receive a'bushing h of insulating material, through which a contact arm lH5e passes and in which it tightly lfits. The lower end of the arm is bifurcated or providedv with two spring blades h2, h2, which straddle the conductor E located axially within the shell as already described;

`and the outer end of the arm is formed with a cylindrical head H8 that is seated in a socket in and makes `electrical contact with a conductor I rigidly carried by the outer shell B, and insulated therefrom. The construction of the outer shell B may be substantially that of the inner shell, that is to say,-it is made iu two parts, one part h being a cylindrical drum from which a hollowbearing b extends, this hollow bearing being mounted and turning upon the exterior of the tubular projection AD2 of the bracket. This joint or bearing might be packed in any usual and well-known way, or I mayemploy some such arrangement as that shown in Fig. 1, viz: I cover the joint by` a iiexible tube which may be corrugated, and' one end of whichis cemented to the exterior of thetube D2, and the other end to the exterior yof .the hollow bearingb'. The other part b2 of the exterior shell consists of a cover which is bolted to the part b, and is formed with a hollow hub b3, whichV has its bearings in a removable arm D3 of the bracket D. A cup d4 of insulating material is seated in the hollow hub and in such cup is seated the hollow hub a4 ofthe inner shell. This manner of connecting and mounting .the inner shell will hold it rigidly, though I may as an additional precaution provide .a set screw g3 passing through the tube D2, and engaging the tubular projection a of the inner shell, suitable insulating material being preferably introduced between the .end of the screw and the latter tube. It will now be obvious that the rocking motion of the outer shell of limited extent will cause either of the springcontact plates h2, h2 to be pressed into `contact with the conducting rod E, the sides of which may be iiattened, if desired, as is indicated in Fig. 2, and that current may therefore be' taken from the main conductor F through the conducting rod E to contact 71.2, and arm l'OO IIO

H to the conductor I, rigidly mounted in the Y outer shell.

In Fig. 2 the end of the rod'Iy with the socket for the cylindrical end H3 of the conducting arm Hiextends inwardly beyond the wall of the outer shell. I may, however, construct the outer shell in a different manner; that is, it may be divided axially into two halves formed with flanges to be bolted together as indicated in dotted lines-in Fig. 2. In that event the socketed end of the conductor I need not extend into the shell, but may be arranged as indicated in Fig. 3, and the upper half `of the outer shellfmay be dropped into position, so that the cylindrical head Ha will be seated in the socket of the conductor I.

, When the box is constructed as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the parts must be dierently `passes through the hollow hub ,of the yoke,

and within this `bushing closely iits the socketed conductor I. A c'apmlr.3 is bolted to the outer end ofthe conductor I and is formed with two contact faces or blades 7a4 in contact with whicha roller L of conducting material rotates. of insulating material, supported in the arms K', K of the yoke K. i

As before stated I contemplate filling the space between the inner and the outer shell with insulating material.` In the construction shown in Figs. l and 2, I prefer that the i space shall beiilled with oil. In the construction indicated inFig. 3, the space may be filled with paraftine. t The slight movement of the upper end of the conducting arm II2 will compress the parafline and form a space of sufficient extent to permit the free movement of the arm; or if the space were lled with rubber, itselasticity would permit of the required movement of the arm. In order to return the outer shell to the normal posii to the normal position.

rubber is used to till the space between the tion after it has been struck by the moving shoe of a car, I may weight it at the bottom as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2, or springs may be employed, and where a packing or filling of rubber between the shells is employed, its elasticity assists the return of the outer shell Where parafne or two shells, it may be introduced at the point C in liquid form, or.I may mold it about the inner shell and then clamp the two parts of the `axially divided outer shell upon it.

I contemplate that the box shall be assembled as shown and described, and the only work to be performed in the conduit will be to bolt the brackets D to the wall of the conduit or to such other support therein as may be provided. As shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6, the contact-boxes are placed at suitable in` tervals Within the conduit, and are swept by an elongated brush or contact shoe M, carried by the car. a

t 'Io provide iiexibility in passing around curves the shoe may be jointed as indicated at m, or the same purpose accomplished in other well-known ways. The ends of the shoe are preferably `rocker shaped, and as the `car that of the box immediately preceding. i As the curved or rocker shaped end of the shoe bearings H and establishes contact between one of the contact blades h2 and the conduc- This roller revolves upon an axis tor E within the box. A circuit is therefore completedifrom the main conductor tothe shoe, and to the motor on the `car through the central insulatedwconductor() ofthe hanger O', depending from the car and to a which the shoe is attached. In order to guide the shoe accurately," I may form within the conduit a track P P consisting of upper and lower rails upon which run grooved wheels, mounted in frames attached to the end sections ofM the jointed shoe.

couplings G within which the conductors E In these figures, p `X indicates the armored main conductor y passing along the conduit, and through the are attached to the bared main conductor.

At intervals I place in the bottom of the conduit drains or traps Y that discharge into the sewer connections. i a

' Another feature of my invention is illus-` trated in Figs. 7 and 8 wherein the general organization is the same as that already described, except in the following particulars: Instead of using a shoe I employ a trolley on the hangercarried by the car. i This trolley may have three grooved wheels, one insulated Q which runs,upon a guide rail at the top,

and two others Q which run upon a sectional conductor formed as follows: The end of the conducting rod I extending from a contact box is pivoted to an elongated conductor VR, and the same conductor maybe similarly supported at another point by a like,pivoted arm as S. Such a series of conductors form a track, substantially as indicated in Figs. 7 and 8, upon which the trolley conducting wheels Q', Q run. Normally the boxes maintain their usual upright position as indicated at the right hand side of Fig. 7, and hold the conducting rail or trolley track R in its highest position. As the conducting wheels Q', Q run upon this section R of the track, the section is forced down at all points simultane` ously, its action being a common parallel bar movement. In this way the connections of the main conductor are completed and the Wheels Q', Q conduct current as long as they are running upon that section of the track. Whenthey leave it, the weights or springs already referred to restore the parts to their normal position, and the section of the track y referred to is disconnected from the circuit.`

The ends of the track sections R may be curved or turned downwardly and overlap as shown, and of course the trolley wheels Q', Q make contact with one track section R before leaving the preceding one. The adjacent overlapping faces of the ends of the track sections might be insulated as indicated by the heavy lines in Fig. 8. Instead of` having one track section R connected with two adjacentboxes, each section may connect with but one contact box,the other end of the track section bein g supported by apivoted,weighted or spring controlled arm S, which `however should preferably be insulated from the track section, as indicated at s in Fig. 7. By such an organization the number of boxes required will be less` than whereeach track section is connected with -two boxes, and the expense of installing the system be correspondingly reduced. Of `course the track sections are properly aligned with the guide frail,upon which the insulated roll Q runs, and lthere will be no liability of the trolley wheels Q',

- Q leaving the sectional track.

As already stated, the contact boxes when used in accordance with the plan indicated in Fig. 4, may be located at one side of Vthe conduit .and not immediately beneath the slot, and similarly the sectional trolley track show-n in Figs. 7 and 8 may be located at one side of the conduit.

I claim as my inventionl. In an electric railway system, a contact box consisting of an inner .closed stationary shellthaving a conductor arranged therein, extending therefrom and adapted to be connected with the lead `ofan electric circuit, `an exterior shell capable of rocking about vthe inner shell, a contact arm carried by the inner shell, and adapted to be moved into contact with the conductor therein, and a conductor extending through and `carried by the outer shell and mechanically and electrically connected with the contact arm of the inner shell, substantially as set forth.

2. In an electric railway system, a contact box consisting of an inner closeds-tationary shell having a conductor arranged therein, extending therefrom and adapted to be connected with the lead of an electric circu-it, an

exterior shell capable of rocking about the inner shell, a contact arm carried by the inner shell, and adapted to be moved into contact with the conductor therein, a conductor conductor therethrough, and mechanically and electrically connected with the Vcontact arm of the inner shell, substantially as set forth. i

4,. In an electric railway system, the comfbination of the Abracket having a coupling box G and a tubular ,extension D2, of a `contact box consisting of a closed stationary shell having a tubular projection seated inthe tubular extension of the bracke'an insu.-

v lated `conductor extending from the chamber of the coupling G throughthe tube of the shell tothe interior thereof, saidy conductor being formed with a connected tube, a contact-face within the shell, a y'contact arm pivoted l in said shell and adapted to b e moved into contact with said conductor, a closed exterior shell mounted upon the tubular .extension of the bracket and having a conductor extending therethrough, and electrically and mechanically connected with the`contact arm, substantially as set forth.

5. In anv electric railway system, the combination of the bracket having a coupling box G and a tubularextension D2, of al contact box consistingof a closed stationary shell having a tubular projection seated in the tubular extension of. the bracket, an insulated conductor extending from the chamber of the coupling G through the tube of the shell to lthe interior thereof, said conductor being formed with a connected tube, a contact face within the shell, a contact arm pivoted in said shell and adapted to be moved into contact with said conductor, a closed lexterior Shell mounted upon the tubular Aextension of the bracket and havi-ng a conductor extending therethrough and electrically and mechanically connected with the .contact arm, a

main conductor or lead .of the circuit secured in the .coupling G and electrically connected with the conductor extending from the inner shell, and insulati-ng material filling the space between the inner and ,outer shells, substantially asset forth.

6. In an electric railway system, a contact box consisting of a closed inner shell, a conf tact or conductor arranged therein, the cylindrical pivoted plug having its bearings in a IOC slot in the rim of the shell, the rocking contact arm carried by the plug and `adapted when moved to make contact -with the cone lductor Within the shell, the rocking vexterior closed shell, a conductor extending there.-

through and mechanically and .electrically f connected with said contact arm, and insu.- lating material filling the space between the two shells, substantially as set forth.

7. In an electric railway system, a contact IIC box consisting of a closed inner shell having the circuit conductor or contact located therein and an insulated pivoted contact arm extending through the shell, the inner end of which is adapted to be,mov,ed into connection with said conductor, the .outer closed rocking shell `havin g a conductor arranged inthe wall thereof, and extending to the exterior thereof, said conductor being formed with a socket to receive the head or .end of the contact,'an arm whereby the contact arm is electrically and mechanically connected with the switch arm,

and adapted to be moved by the rock-ing of the outer shell, substantially asset forth.

8. "Ihe combination, substantially as set forth, of a conduit, the main conductor running therethrough, a series of brackets, each having a coupling box through which the main conductor passes, and a contact box consisting of a closed inner shell, a rocking closed outer shell, a conductor or contact projecting f from `the outer shell, and controlling the contacts within the-inner shell, and a contact de-` vice carried by the car adapted to rock the outer shells to complete the circuit.

9. The combination, substantially as set forth, of the conduit, contact boxes or devices arranged therein at intervals, a sectional trolley track each section being supported above the boxes by normally upright pivoted parallel bars and adapted when depressed to complete the circuit through the track section, the adjacent "ends of track sections being respectively curved or inclined and having overlapping cut away ends with intervening insulation, and a conducting trolley carried by the car and rnnningupon the sectional track.

10. The combination of a conduit, contact with one end of said pivoted conductors and one of said pivoted arms, and the trolley Wheel running on said track, the combination being and operating substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name. y

. WILLIAM A. BUTLER. Witnesses:

FRANK S. OBER, I. J. SUMER. 

